Canon 7d

[ABallinger]

Hello - I'm new to photography and new to the forum. I will be purchasing my first DSLR camera here soon and was looking into the Canon 7d. Anyone have one? Any reviews?

Thanks!

AB

[inkista]

$1700 is an awful lot to be spending on a first camera body for a newbie. Are you sure you need all the features? dSLRs are kind of like computers/cellphones: spending more doesn't mean you're going to keep it longer, it just means it's more fun to use for the same amount of time. And that period of time is relatively limited, I'd say five years tops.

As a beginner, with no equipment, your money might be better spent on lenses or other equipment up front, because those you will be using for more than five years. Your camera body is just the basis of the system. How much function you'll get out of it, depends on how much of the system you have as a whole.

The 7D is a great camera, but it has all the marketing hype right now, being the latest release from Canon and it's at its most expensive and hard-to-find right now. There are three tiers of cameras below it: the XXD ($1000), XXXD ($800-$500), and XXXXD ($500) tiers. It's pro or near-pro level, and it's optimized for someone who likes to shoot fast action, such as sports. Is this really the right camera for you? Because the lower-tiered cameras are perfectly capable of delivering great images, too.

Chances are, early on, that you're going to be more hampered by your technique than by your equipment, and by the time your technique is good enough to be hampered by your gear, you'll be wanting to upgrade anyway. For a first body, going down-tier might actually make more sense. I'd say going with an 50D or 500D, and spending the $700 - $1000 you save on lenses might be a better option.

[nathanbarlow]

ditto above.

I would even go as far as saying that a 50D would be overkill for a first DSLR. I'm using a D60 (a 2002 model which is the 50D's ancestor), and have been shooting for coming up two years, and only just starting to 'want' a newer camera, and this more more to do with the fact that the D60 is slower than modern cameras. And I had been shooting film for about 18months prior to going digital...

Unless you happen to be a film user of many years, who is transfering to digital, I would say the xxxD camera series is more than enough camera for a newcomer. I would say get a $500 ish body and spend a grand or so on two decent lenses. That would be spending the same amount as just getting the 7D body, but this has two lenses... See LensPlay - List of EOS Lenses for reviews of EOS compatible autofocus lenses.

[PhotogChic]

I have both the XSi and the 7D. I was a beginner when I bought the XSi a year ago and as I get acquainted to my 7D, I am more thankful each day that I started with the XSi. I've invested quite a bit in lenses and off-camera flashes over the year and I'm thankful that I had the extra cash (from not buying the 50D I was looking at then) to sink into my lenses.

I want to say here that I absolutely LOVE my XSi! It's never failed me and I get great quality photos with it. I shot my sister-in-law's wedding in June with it and I've gotten nothing but compliments on the quality of the photos! I only got the 7D because I needed faster fps (frames per second) to shoot my daughters' soccer games and cheer compititions.

In my most humble opinion, I would suggest starting with the XSi. Once you get familiar with that, then upgrade. The focusing system in the XSi isn't as complicated as the 7D's and as a beginner, the advanced focusing system in the 7D may be quite overwhelming for a newbie.

I would like to add that the 7D is an awesome camera but I think that you would be very overwhelmed as a beginner trying to learn to use it as your first DSLR.

Here's a link to my Flickr photostream. All of the photos there are taken with my XSi. PhotogChic712's Flickr Photostream

Good Luck! Hope you let us know what you decided!